Black mamas matter!
24th July 2023 · 0 Comments
As states rush to enforce anti-abortion laws under the pretext of “saving the unborn,” there are glaring injustices in their agenda of forced births. If anti-abortion proponents really believe in the sanctity of life, where is the money, the programs, the safety net, and after-birth financial and childcare support mothers and families need to sustain the lives of their newborns?
At a time when the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, most of the 14 states with abortion bans don’t offer extensive health care, guaranteed basic incomes, or adequate child care funds.
So, women who want to have children and those who may not be able to afford them have no choice but to give birth in states with abortion bans and then struggle to rear them.
Besides the injustice of legislators regulating women’s bodies, pregnant Black women are at greater risk than others of dying in childbirth, or of having their babies die in utero or during birthing. Conventional wisdom cites poverty, a lack of education, and inadequate prenatal care as primary reasons for pregnant Black women and infants dying in childbirth. Yet, the truth about the causes of many instances of Black maternal and infant mortality is much more unjust, life-threatening, damaging and preventable.
Studies show racism and sexism significantly affect Black maternal and infant mortality. The U.N. released last week found “pregnant Afrodescendant women are abused and neglected due to systemic racism and sexism in health systems across the Americas.”
“Afrodescendant women and girls across the Americas are more likely to die during childbirth, a fact often attributed to their individual failure to seek timely treatment, poor lifestyle choices or hereditary predispositions.” The UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, categorically refutes these misconceptions, finding a systemic and historical pattern of racist abuse in the health sector across the continents.
The report’s analysis of data collected across the Americas found that Black women experience disproportionate levels of mistreatment in health settings, some based on unscientific, racist and slavery-era beliefs still present in medical curricula.
Systemic neglect is also reflected in data collection: Only 11 out of 35 countries in the Americas collect maternal health data broken down by race. Most troubling is the report’s findings that the most significant discrepancy in maternal death rates is in the United States, where Black women are three times more likely to die than white women.
We know that no matter the challenges Black women face in pregnancy and health concerns, they rise to the occasion, collectively address injustice, and find ways to make everyone know that Black Mamas Matter!
From Beyoncé to Serena Williams to Michelle Obama, celebrities have used their platforms to share their Black maternal mortality crises. Regardless of socioeconomic level, Black women are more likely to die during childbirth or pregnancy. For example, U.S. Olympic champion sprinter Tori Bowie, 32, died from childbirth complications on May 2. The three-time Olympic medalist was found dead in her Horizon West, Florida, home when authorities performed a wellness check after she had not been seen or heard from for days. It was discovered that an eight-months-pregnant Bowie died from childbirth complications after reaching the crowning stage of labor, according to CNN.
Attorney Laura Coates, a legal analyst with CNN, says she almost died from pregnancy complications.
However, Black women are warriors! The constant drumbeat of racism and others compels them to fight for their rights.
The Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) is a national voice for Black mothers. The Black women-led nonprofit works to introduce and advance policies that address Black maternal health inequity and improve Black maternal health outcomes.
BMMA provides technical assistance, training, and capacity building for grassroots organizations, maternity care service providers (e.g., clinicians, midwives, doula networks, and community health workers), academia, and the public health industry.
BMMA annually holds a week of activities surrounding Black Maternal Health. The official theme for Black Maternal Health Week 2023 was “Our Bodies Belong to Us: Restoring Black Autonomy and Joy!” The annual event begins each April 11 and coincides with National Minority Health Month.
Regardless of educational level, socioeconomic status, health insurance coverage, proximity to health care services, marital status, and other health behaviors, Black women are twelve times more likely to die from pregnancy and delivery complications in some parts of our country, according to Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.
In fact, American Black women with a college degree are more likely to have infants with low birth weight and worse health outcomes during labor and delivery than white women who have not completed high school, the sorority reports.
The service group is working to effect positive change in the maternal health sector in the U.S. Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s Project CRADLE Care raises awareness of disparate and inequitable maternal and infant health outcomes Black women endure. The organization advocates for maternal justice for Black women through community outreach, advocacy, education, and implicit bias training.
Through Project CRADLE Care, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. and the March of Dimes collaborate to address the issues affecting Black women and their children, ranging from chronic physiological stressors and underlying health conditions to structural racism and implicit biases in our healthcare system.
Louisiana State Rep. Barbara Carpenter (D-East Baton Rouge) sponsored a concurrent resolution during this year’s legislative session that underscored the need to make reducing the number of preventable maternal deaths and reducing health disparities among women a top priority of this state. Louisiana, unfortunately, leads the nation with the highest maternal mortality rate. According to the Louisiana Department of Health, Black mothers are four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than their white counterparts, Carpenter wrote.
The legislator pointed to systemic bias, socioeconomic status, lack of access to quality health care and inadequate health coverage.
Nationally, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variations in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias, the Centers for Disease Control reported in April.
Carpenter, who cited the work of the BMMA and Sigma Gamma Rho in the resolution, asserted that experiencing pregnancy and childbirth should not be a death sentence for any woman.
We agree wholeheartedly.
This article originally published in the July 24, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
